American National Red Cross; Red Cross and Red Crescent
_For the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies at the
Field, August 22, 1864._
The sovereigns of the following countries, to wit: Baden, Belgium,
Denmark, Holland, Spain, Portugal, France, Prussia, Saxony,
Würtemberg, and the Federal Council of Switzerland, animated by a
common desire of mitigating, as far as in their power, the evils
inseparable from war, of suppressing needless severities and of
ameliorating the condition of soldiers wounded on fields of battle,
having concluded to determine a treaty for this purpose, these
plenipotentiaries, after the due interchange of their powers, found
to be in good and proper form, have agreed upon the following
articles, to wit:
ARTICLE 1. Ambulances (field hospitals) and military hospitals shall
be acknowledged to be neutral, and as such shall be protected and
respected by belligerents, so long as any sick or wounded may be
therein. Such neutrality shall cease, if the ambulances or hospitals
should be held by a military force.
ART. 2. Persons employed in hospitals and ambulances, comprising the
staff for superintendence, medical service, administration,
transport of wounded, as well as chaplains, shall participate in the
benefit of neutrality whilst so employed, and so long as there
remain any to bring in or to succor.
ART. 3. The persons designated in the preceding article may, even
after occupation by the enemy, continue to fulfill their duties in
the hospital or ambulance which they may have, or may withdraw in
order to regain the corps to which they belong. Under such
circumstances, when the persons shall cease from their functions,
they shall be delivered by the occupying army to the outposts of the
enemy. They shall have specially the right of sending a
representative to the headquarters of their respective armies.
ART. 4. As the equipment of military hospitals remains subject to
the laws of war, persons attached to such hospitals cannot, on
withdrawing, carry away any articles but such as are their private
property. Under the same circumstances an ambulance shall, on the
contrary, retain its equipment.
ART. 5. Inhabitants of the country who may bring help to the wounded
shall be respected and shall remain free. The generals of the
belligerent powers shall make it their care to inform the
inhabitants of the appeal addressed to their humanity, and of the
neutrality which will be the consequence of it. Any wounded man
entertained and taken care of in a house shall be considered as a
protection thereto. Any inhabitant who shall have entertained
wounded men in his house shall be exempted from the quartering of
troops, as well as from a part of the contributions of war which may
be imposed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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